Everyone who is familiar with budgeting knows that there are always certain important categories to list.  For instance; income, mortgage, utilities, auto loan payments, credit card payment, and insurance payments.  Along with those well known categories there are also some very important, yet commonly forgotten, items that should also be added into the budget.

One of the first things to make sure you include in your budget are birthday gifts.  This may sound silly, but think about how many birthdays you celebrate in one year.  Your own family, and of course there are friends as well.  All of those gifts can add up to a large sum coming out of your budget each year.  Not to mention the parties that you host.  Things like cake and decorations can also add up if you host more than one party.  The best way to figure this into your budget is to make a list of all of the birthdays that you celebrate and give them a dollar amount.  Add all of the birthday amounts up and place it in the birthday category in your budget.

Christmas is also a huge expense for most people, but you would be surprised to see exactly how many people do not budget for it.  We all know that Christmas gifts can add up, even if you only buy for selected individuals.  Set a dollar amount that you will be able to stick to, and create a Christmas category on your budget.

There are several other small expenses that add up over the year like gas, and groceries.  Make sure that you include all of them to prevent you from going over budget.

photo source:  bizior